Speaker — Penelope Lindsay, Postdoctoral Fellow, Jackson Lab, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Title — "Communication is key — regulation of maize ear development by receptor signaling complexes"

Abstract — Plants have the remarkable ability to maintain stem cells throughout their life, housed in meristems, which helps them grow flexibly in response to the environment. Meristem size is controlled by several signaling pathways, including the CLAVATA (CLV) signaling pathway, which consists of a suite of CLV receptors, their CLE (CLAVATA3/ Endosperm surrounding region-related) peptide ligands, and the transcription factor WUSCHEL (WUS). While this signaling pathway has been much studied over the years, much remains unknown, including what connects receptor-mediated perception of CLE peptides with the regulation of WUS, and how CLV receptors work together to control stem cell proliferation. In my talk, I will discuss two different approaches I have used to unravel how signaling components regulate the maize inflorescence meristem. In one approach, I have used proximity labeling with the biotin ligase TurboID to map interactions of the CLV-related receptors FASCIATED EAR 3 (FEA3) and BARELY ANY MERISTEM 1D (BAM1D). In a second approach, I have performed transcriptomics on the inflorescence meristems of a diverse panel of maize lines to understand how subtle, combinatorial changes in the expression of meristem signaling genes can affect inflorescence meristem size and shape. Through understanding how meristems are regulated, we can target key signaling components to alter maize ear architecture, which can impact yield-related traits.

Host: Lander Geadelmann, graduate student in the Vollbrecht Lab